Cursed
by Leanbh-Dorchadas
Summary: Vicki gets another 'not too strange' case...Set after my first fic: You Can't Handle the Truth.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've just decided this should continue on from You Can't Handle the Truth. Not really related, but set not long after. Still no ownership of Blood Ties whatsoever, blah, blah, blah...

xXxXxXx

The short, slim young woman checked the address on the business card once more before leaving the café. After putting the strand of her light brown hair that made her side-fringe behind her ear for the millionth time that day she pulled on a long, grey coat, swung her black messenger bag over her shoulder, and headed out toward the PI's office.

"_No case too strange? Well we'll see about that…"_

xXxXxXx

She arrived outside the office at half past seven in the evening. Dark had just set in and the world had become twisted into shades of orange and grey. She enjoyed the night, but much preferred nights in the countryside – the streetlights and high-rise buildings of the city obscured the beauty of the stars and moon in the velvet black sky. The office still had lights on inside and she went in, to be greeted by a young, dark-haired woman.

"Hi, my name is Coreen. I'm Ms. Nelson's assistant. Can I help you?"

"I hope so…" She said darkly. "I have a…strange problem, and I've heard Ms. Nelson is the best one for the job."

"News travels, huh?" Coreen said, noticing the woman's Irish accent and wondering if she lived in Toronto or had travelled to see Vicki.

"Indeed it does. May I speak with Ms. Nelson tonight? I can wait, if it's more convenient tomorrow…"

"No, no, she's in. I'll just let her know you're here. What did you say your name was?"

"Maeve. Maeve O'Brien.

Coreen went through the door into what the woman assumed was the PI's office, and emerged a moment later.

"Go right through."

As Maeve walked into Vicki's office Coreen inspected her. She had removed her coat and it was now draped over her arm. She wore little make-up and was wearing a purple t-shirt with a black Celtic symbol, baggy jeans and a pair or purple and black stripy Converse shoes. She looked no older than twenty and Coreen wondered what sort of problem had brought her to Vicki.

xXxXxXx

"Miss O'Brien. How can I help?" Vicki was sitting at her desk. She gestured toward the seat opposite her, and Maeve took it.

"I'm going to get straight to the point. I know you handle…odd…cases and I've come a long way to see you. Have you any experience with the supernatural?"

Vicki raised her eyebrow, studying the young woman before her.

"Some, yes…" She said wryly, waiting to see what sort of trouble this girl was in. Magic, maybe, or some sort of cult thing.

"How about…vampires?"

Vicki's brows drew down, and she removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Surely this girl couldn't be involved with vampires - she seemed far too young for that. Maybe she had a similar story to Coreen – she'd have to wait and see.

"More than I'd care to share."

"Good…well I've been cursed. My husband is a vampire, and now every time he comes near me he becomes weak, almost to the point of passing out. I'm like Kryptonite to him right now, and I desperately need help. I miss my husband, Ms. Nelson, and I want this thing resolved ASAP. Can you help?"

"Hold on, husband? You look barely twenty!"

"I'm a mature twenty, Ms. Nelson. Can you help me?" the young woman looked hopefully at Vicki.

"I think so, yeah. Hold on a minute." Vicki needed to get Coreen, she was the magic go-to girl. She filled the gothette in on the problem and watched as her eyes glittered at the prospect of figuring this one out.

"Vicki, Coreen…" Henry entered the office, and immediately after greeting the women he stiffened, scented the air and growled.

"Henry?" Vicki was concerned for him. He rarely reacted like that, and when he did it was never without good reason.

"Who is in your office?"

"It's a girl, she's got one of _**those**_ cases."

"Is she human?"

"Near as I can tell. Why? Are your vampy senses tingling?"

"She smells of vampire."

"Her husband is a vampire, but she isn't."

Maeve emerged from the office, moving slowly. Henry bared his teeth at her, regarding her with cold, black eyes.

"I am not here to harm you, vampire. I seek only the help of your friend." She lowered her head in a gesture of submission, and the predator in Henry recognised this. He growled, asserting himself as dominant and, a moment later, he was shaking her hand and introductions were being made.

"Whoa…" Coreen whispered in Vicki's direction and they exchanged bewildered looks. "What was all that?" she looked expectantly at Henry.

Maeve smiled at her, and sounded older than her years as she explained.

"The predator in him scented another of its kind on me. When predators come together pack order must me established, so I submitted to him, this being his territory, and recognised him as the dominant one; he would've attacked me otherwise."

"Right…So now that you've got your 'pack' thing done…You want in, Henry?" Vicki looked pointedly at him.

"How can I help?"

xXxXxXx

A/N: Let me know if you likey...


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's Chapter 2! Sorry about the sudden change of timeline, but I had one of those crazy brainwaves and decided this should go after my first fic. Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed!

xXxXxXx

"We should sit down." Coreen ushered Maeve over to the couch and brought two chairs for Vicki and Henry. When the others were seated she sat beside the other young woman on the couch. "Maeve, do you want to fill Henry in?"

"Vicki mentioned already that my husband is a vampire. Well, I've been cursed, and now he can't come near me without becoming weak. We've figured out that the closer he comes to me, the more it seems his vampire abilities are taken away. Obviously he can't survive without them, being that they're what have kept him alive for so long, and that's why he gets so ill when we're close. We have no idea who has done this to us, or why, and believe me we've exhausted all our sources trying to figure it out. One of Dave's contacts in Canada told him about Ms. Nelson, so I came."

"Dave being your husband?" Vicki asked.

"Yeah, David. Will you help us?" She looked back and forth between Henry and Vicki, and noticed the glance that they gave each other.

"We will. Did you come all the way from Ireland?" Henry was curious about this young woman, she looked so young yet her eyes seemed to betray wisdom far beyond her years. He also saw sadness in them, and felt for her. To be apart from one you hold dear was something he could understand, he had, over the long years, experienced such grief.

"Yes. I had to - I'm sure you understand how desperate we are to fix this…" She recognised the sympathy in the way he regarded her.

"When did this begin?" He had never heard of anything like this happening before, but then because of vampire's solitary natures the most anyone heard were rumours.

"About six months ago. It came on slowly; at first it was just a little headache, then nausea, then it got progressively worse until he had to move out of our house. The closest he can stand is about three metres, but it's certainly not easy for him. He only fully recovers when I'm completely out of his range of senses, so he can't smell, hear or feel my presence. We're not used to being apart any more, so it's been…well it's been heartbreaking. It's like someone's taken half of me away…" She looked at her shoes, trying to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Coreen put her hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out…"

"We're going to need to see David, speak to him…" Vicki looked perturbed by something, and Henry looked at her questioningly. "You know how you don't like to fly?"

He grimaced, not liking where she was going with this one bit.

"I don't fly. Ever. Why?"

"Well you're gonna have to get there somehow!" She didn't understand his problem with airplanes; he had come to terms with electricity, telephones, cars, why not one more thing?

"Why do I have to go?"

"Because you're my partner! What about the night-time stuff?!"

"Coreen can help you."

"What's the big problem, Henry? It's just a mode of transport. You're behaving like Mr. T, and if I have to knock you out to get you on a plane just like him I'll do it! I need you with me." She finished with that, her tone unmistakably indicating finality. She would get him to go by any means necessary.

It wasn't the raised voice that made him want to try. It wasn't her threats, or her angry expression. She needed him with her. She had said she needed him. He was terrified of the concept of flying, but then, he had done other things he wasn't exactly a fan of for her…The least he could do was try.

"How will we manage the territory thing?" Coreen finally said aloud what she'd been wondering since Vicki had mentioned their leaving.

"Dave won't be too troubled by it. He's learned ways to control some of his baser instincts. Besides," She tilted her head slightly, and her expression became quite thoughtful, "I'd say the drive to have his mate back may overrule the territorial responses to some extent..."

"Mate?" Vicki wrinkled her nose at the word. It sounded so…crude…

Maeve chuckled, and glanced between Henry and Vicki almost imperceptably.

"Even though vampires look like people, they're still hunters on the inside. There are parts of them that are entirely raw, animal; all instinct and urges. Think of them like…tigers. Only more fun."

"We'll need to get a night flight and arrangements for transport once we get there. I'll also need an adapted room for during the day." Henry ignored the change in Vicki's scent and the way she had shifted slightly in her seat at the mention of 'urges', and the way Maeve's lips were curled up slightly at the edges, almost as if she had noticed too.

"All done very easily. You can stay in the house with me, if that's ok with you, I can have a bedroom ready for you before we arrive, and I can have a vamp-friendly car to pick us up from the airport. We can leave tomorrow, or the day after, or whenever you're ready. I'll take care of all the expenses, of course."

"Well then, seems like we're taking a working holiday!" Vicki said, as she tried to hide a yawn.

"Can I still go?" Coreen looked hopefully at Vicki.

"Of course, you know more about this stuff than me." Vicki conceded, and winced as Coreen squealed in excitement.

"Ok, well I'll leave you guys to talk amongst yourselves. Here's a number you can contact me at," she handed Vicki a piece of paper, then put back on her jacket. "Let me know when to organise the travel arrangements. Thank you all so much..." She left, closing the door gently behind her. She really hoped these people could help her, they were her last hope.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Not much happening, I know, but it's one of those annoying neccesary lead-on's. Let me know what you think about the direction this is taking...


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I promise I don't own Blood Ties, the characters or premise of the show or books. Cross my heart. Now, I was going to make it easy for them, but Nitlon's comment formed an idea in my brain that I just had to let out…Ah, random inspiration! Thanks for all the reviews!

xXxXxXx

Coreen had spent the majority of the afternoon searching website after website trying to find a suitable flight. Taking into account time differences between Toronto and Dublin, the eight hour flight, times of dawn and dusk in both countries and the flight times available, it would be very difficult, nay, impossible to arrange it so that Henry would be awake the whole time.

"Vicki?" She tried her best to keep the exasperation from her voice as she called the PI. Vicki didn't leave her desk; she was too busy trying to finish up all the necessary paperwork to allow herself time off.

"Yeah?"

"This is impossible! There's no way to get from here to the airport three hours before check-in and arrive between dusk here and dawn there. How the hell are we gonna get Henry over?" She heard Vicki sigh, put something down on the desk then footsteps.

She showed Vicki her calculations, and Vicki became just as exasperated as her young assistant.

"Hey, here's a plan," Vicki said, the sarcasm in her voice blatantly evident, "Why don't we just stick him in a light-proof suitcase and put him in the hold?!" She threw her arms up, trying to release some of the frustration. Coreen's silence made her look down, and to her horror Coreen actually seemed to be considering it.

"Coreen! We can't do that!"

"No, Vicki, wait – _**what**_ _**if**_ Henry was in a nice, fairly inconspicuous, tightly sealed box for the duration of the trip? We could leave here in the morning, and arrive just in time for him to wake…"

"No, Coreen!" Vicki paused to think about it for a moment, then protested once more. "No way! Besides, even if _**we**_ think it's a great idea, there's no chance Henry would agree."

"No chance Henry would agree to what?" The vampire had come in quietly, and was now regarding the two women with arms folded and eyes slightly narrowed.

"Well," Coreen began, trying to sound like she was about to suggest something completely normal; instead, she sounded more like she was setting him up for something. "It's impossible to get you from here to there between dawn and dusk. There's no way. So we thought…" She received a deadly glare from Vicki, and amended her words, "Ok, _**I**_ thought that there might be an easier way to get you there."

"Which is?" His eyes narrowed further.

"Well, we could go during the day and pass you off as…as a…as a body. People do it all the time, bring bodies home for funerals and stuff. You could be sleeping comfortably and if we timed it right you'd just be waking up when we got there. We could just open up the casket and hey presto!"

"You are suggesting placing me in a coffin while I am basically dead to the world, passing me off as a body, placing me and said coffin in the hold of the airplane and releasing me on arrival." He was looking at her incredulously.

"Well think about it – really it's the safest way to get you there; you wouldn't have to face your fear of flying and there's no chance of any daylight getting in if we do it right…"

Vicki couldn't believe it – he was actually considering it!

"Could you forge the appropriate documents?" He asked the gothette.

"Sure! No problem. Is that a yes?"

Reluctantly, he nodded. Why he was agreeing to any of this he wished he knew, but he was.

xXxXxXx

With all arrangements having been made, Coreen, Vicki and Maeve had arranged the flights for two days after. They met at the airport and sent the coffin through, Coreen turning on the waterworks as the security officer went over the documentation. Maeve began patting her on the back, and whispered loudly to the burly man.

"She was there when he died – car accident. Gruesome."

He nodded at her, feeling sorry for the young woman. Sending them on to check-in, he sighed and shook his head as they left. Turning to his partner, they began discussing the tragedy of people dying young.

xXxXxXx

On arrival in Dublin they collected the coffin containing Henry and made their way out of the airport building to a waiting van. It was half past five; just under an hour until dusk. Maeve introduced the driver as Izzy, her best friend. They made small talk as they drove, and a few minutes after dusk pulled up at the side of a dark, deserted road. Vicki and Maeve got out to release Henry; the coffin had been put in the trunk of the van. Once he was out he stretched to alleviate some of the discomfort, then joined them in the cab of the van. The five hour drive felt like an eternity and when they arrived at Maeve's house they were glad of the opportunity to walk around and stretch their sore muscles. The three women who had flown from Toronto were incredibly tired.

The house was in the countryside of County Galway, nestled in the middle of a large farm. It was a big, old country house, and was decorated as such, with flagstone flooring in the kitchen, wooden floors elsewhere, and various antiques dotted around the rooms.

Izzy and Maeve settled their guests in the living room while they rustled up some food. Vicki, Coreen and Henry finally had the chance to talk alone.

"This place is awesome…" Coreen near-whispered, taking in her surroundings. The living room was decorated in midnight blues and purples, which complemented the dark wooden floors, table and bookshelf. The fireplace was stone, and a small fire had been lit.

"How was your flight?" Vicki looked Henry over as she asked, her concern for him clearly visible on her features.

"I don't know…fine, I suppose." He smiled at her, reassuring her he was alright. She placed her hand over his, which had been resting on his knee, just for a moment, and their eyes met. It was the most intimate moment they had shared since the night of the ritual almost a month before. They smiled at each other, some sort of understanding reached between them, when they were interrupted by Maeve and Izzy with trays or sandwiches and a fresh pot of coffee. Henry watched Vicki as she tucked into the sandwiches and sipped her coffee, suddenly very glad he had agreed to come with her. The four women chatted as they ate, Coreen asking questions about the house, the locality and the history of the place, Vicki listening intently and piping up with her own question now and again. Maeve and Izzy had questions for them too; how they had got into the business, how they had met Henry, what sort of cases they had worked before. After they had drank and eaten their fill, they all helped tidy up before returning to the living room.

"I think we should leave the business talk 'til tomorrow, seeing as how we've all had a long journey. I'll show you two to your rooms - I hope they'll be alright for you. Vicki and Coreen collected their suitcases from the hall and followed Maeve upstairs. She joined Henry, who had remained seated, a few minutes later.

"This is a lovely house. How old is it?" Henry enquired.

"Probably not as old as you!" She smiled at him. "It was built in the 1800's. Am I right?"

He half smiled and nodded. "Henry Fitzroy…Hmmm…son of Henry VIII?" Henry looked startled. "Aw, relax, I Googled you. Thought that'd spook you!" She chuckled, and his half-smile turned to a grin.

"Surely you're tired?"

"No, like I said, practically nocturnal now. I'm used to living vampire hours these days. Did you enjoy your little sojourn in the coffin? Must've brought back memories…"

"It was…certainly not the most comfortable mode of transport. The familiar scents helped, though. So you're married to a vampire. How old is he?"

"He's four hundred and sixty two and a half. Though you'd swear he was only three hundred…"

The little joke reminded him of what Vicki had said when he told her his age. He smiled at the memory.

"What age was he when he was turned?"

"Eighteen. Fell in love, begged to be turned, she left him a year later…" She seemed almost sad to talk about it.

"Does his feeding ever bother you?" the memory of something Vicki had said a few weeks before suddenly coming back to him.

"Hmm?" She had become distracted, but recovered quickly. "Oh, not really anymore. I mean, he's not as…full on as he used to be with the people he feeds from. Since we got married he barely touches them. Can't ask for more than that – a guy's got to eat, right?" She smiled ruefully at him, and he nodded in understanding. "Did you feed before you came?" She asked, suddenly realising everyone else had eaten their fill. He nodded.

"How does David manage out here?"

"He goes to Galway city; it's not long to drive." Henry nodded again. Maeve looked up suddenly, as if she had sensed something. Henry cocked his head slightly, wondering if she, too, was feeling the oncoming dawn.

"We should bed down for the night – it's nearly time." He looked at her, brows drawn down in confusion. She smiled, realising the cause of his bewilderment.

"After a while I guess I got used to the signs…something about the air starts changing. I'll just show you to your room. We had the blackout blinds put in yesterday and tested, so it should be alright for you." He collected his case and followed her upstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I have no rights to Blood Ties, or anything. Except to remain silent. And I choose to waive that right…Thank-you for the reviews, and to answer a question: No, she never 'fessed up!

xXxXxXx

Vicki woke the next evening and, for the first few seconds of semi-consciousness, hadn't a clue where she was. After her brain caught up with her body she got up, showered, dressed, then headed downstairs. Coreen was already in the kitchen, humming as she waited for the toaster to pop.

"Hey, Vic!"

"Good morning…afternoon…evening…Is there coffee?"

Coreen pointed at a filter coffee machine in the corner of the countertop and Vicki smiled gratefully as she passed the brunette. She searched the cupboards for cups and, upon finding one, poured herself a generous fill of coffee from the jug.

"So…you sleep well?" She asked between sips.

"Oh yeah, very! The bed was really comfy. You?"

"Same. Any ideas about this curse?"

"None, yet. You'd be surprised at the lack of literature about curses that repel vampires. People, animals, ghosts, I can find, but anti-vampire came up blank so far."

"So…you want to go for a walk after breakfast? See what this place is like from the outside? It's about two hours 'til dusk, so we shouldn't see Henry for a while. And if Maeve works vampire hours she won't be up either."

They finished up then, bundled into jackets and scarves, went to explore the land around the house.

xXxXxXx

Henry woke in the unfamiliar room on full alert. He hadn't woken in a strange place in quite a while and it unnerved him. After using his senses to confirm Vicki and Coreen were nearby he went about his evening routine and, when he was ready, followed the sound of Vicki's voice to the living room.

"Morning!" Coreen chirped.

"Hey. You two up long?"

Vicki shook her head and related the story of their day so far. Maeve joined them a few minutes later, and, after greetings, they got down to business.

"So where is your husband staying now?" Vicki needed all the details; she was planning to get this done as soon as she could.

"He's staying with friends in the city. I've told them to expect you tonight, and Dave's going to stay in so you can talk to him. I'll write the address and directions down for you when you're leaving, and you can use my car."

"Good, ok. So is there anyone you can think of that might want to hurt Dave? Or you? Maybe someone who knows what he is and doesn't like it?"

"We've checked everyone we can think of out ourselves. There are only three people who know about Dave being vampire, and they're the people he's staying with; Chris, Emily and their daughter Gemma. He's very careful."

"Ok. We'll pay them a visit now, then."

xXxXxXx

When they finally found the house Coreen and Vicki went in together. Henry had already sensed the presence of the other vampire inside and had opted to stay in the car; he had no desire to test his self-control. They were greeted at the door by Emily, who led them into the kitchen. Sitting at the table were two men and a teenage girl, probably about seventeen. The older of the two men stood and shook hands with the women as he was introduced, while the girl merely gave them a curt nod. The younger man stood, eyeing Vicki with a look not unlike Henry's when he had met Maeve.

"You are Vicki?" He looked her up and down, and as he scented Henry on her his fangs descended and his eyes became opaque pools of blackness.

"Yes. Now if you could cut the 'I'm a predator, hear me roar' crap, we'll get on with this. I'm here to help you." She stood her ground, her expression deadly serious, daring him to try anything.

David growled low in his throat, the beast within him demanding that he teach this insolent woman not to disrespect him. Vicki met his stare with her own steely gaze; if this guy thought she was going to bow down to him he had another thing coming.

"Where is the other vampire?" He was, as Vicki had described it many times before, "vamping" her. She laughed, and David was so shocked that his features reverted back to his human ones.

"You're immune to my persuasion?" He was suddenly quite fascinated by Vicki; he had only met one other person who could resist, and he was married to her.

"Yep! Sorry about that. Now can we please get on with this?" She gestured to the table, and Emily ushered her husband and daughter out, leaving Coreen, Vicki and David alone.

David sat opposite Vicki. She questioned him about his feeding habits; where he liked to hunt, if there was anyone he fed from regularly, anything that Maeve hadn't been able to tell them. At the suggestion of a possible other lover he glared at her.

"I take my vows extremely seriously, Vicki. I could never betray Maeve like that." She nodded, seeing that he was truly serious.

They questioned Emily, Chris and Gemma afterward. They gleaned little information of use from them, especially the teen; she was behaving stereotypically 'teenage' and Vicki felt like shaking her for it. When they were finished, David stopped them at the door.

"May I meet him?" He hadn't met another of his kind for many, many years and his human side was curious; his vampire side wanted to rip Henry limb from limb for encroaching on his territory. Vicki sensed the inner conflict, and decided against in for now.

"Is that really a good idea? I mean, you couldn't handle me and I only smell of Henry…"

David conceded to leaving it 'til another time, and Vicki and Coreen headed back to the car. They needed to go to David's usual haunt, and see if anyone could tell them anything.

xXxXxXx

Henry and Vicki entered the club, the thumping music assaulting their ears.

"Ok, so we split up, and see if anyone knows David."

Henry nodded, and half an hour later they met again near the door, both having come up blank. The bar staff had been familiar with him but none seemed at all suspicious of him.

"Maybe someone saw him feeding? Wanted to hurt him?" Vicki thought aloud.

"Well, there's one way to find that out…" Henry looked around to ascertain whether anyone was watching them. "Want to do a little role-play?" He raised his eyebrow, and grinned at her suggestively.

"Role-play?" She sounded mildly alarmed, and he chuckled before continuing.

"I'll be the irresistible vampire, you be the sexy prey…"

She made a noncommital 'hm' sound, and, after giving a discreet look around herself, she nodded.

"Not a bad idea, Henry…Will you be able to tell if anyone sees?"

"I will."

She smiled at him; game on.

He led her to the darkest corner of the club, and they kissed. A few moments later he broke away, and trailed wet kisses along her jaw line then down onto her neck. He nipped at her with blunt teeth first, before allowing himself to answer the call of her blood. Fangs sank into flesh and Vicki yelped, but not because of the pain. Hot blood spilled into his mouth and he moaned, savouring the taste that was Vicki. Forcing his mind to focus on his surroundings he ignored her scent and the sounds of her heavy breathing, searching for evidence of their being watched. He turned them so that he could see the room and, on seeing no-one behaving suspiciously or, indeed, paying any heed to them at all, he retracted his fangs and licked at the neat little puncture wounds, sealing them. He straightened his jacket, took Vicki's hand and led her out of the club. Once outside in the fresh air Vicki cleared her throat and tried to shake off the effects of their little encounter. They set off toward the car, which Coreen was babysitting down the road.

"So…nothing?" She said, trying to break the silence.

"Definitely not nothing." Henry grinned widely at her, teasing.

Instead of the usual quip, she merely flushed slightly and grinned right back.

"You know what I meant…"

"No, no-one took any notice of us."

"Ok, so we're back to…no clues at all. Great."

They hopped back into the car, and decided to call it a night.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I wish I owned the rights to Blood Ties, or even just owned a copy of the DVD. Alas, so far, I have neither. I'll be getting the second one sometime this week, the first I'll never own.

xXxXxXx

"So you didn't find anything out?" Maeve looked like she might cry. Coreen looked concerned for her new friend, Vicki looked annoyed with herself and Henry seemed relieved to be as far away from the other vampire as he could get.

"I'll go make some tea and coffee." Coreen headed for the kitchen.

"No…Although I didn't exactly press Emily, Chris and Gemma. I'd like to talk to them some more. Especially Gemma – she hardly said anything. And I'll go back to David, see if there are any other bars or places where people might know him."

Maeve smiled grimly and nodded.

"She's not exactly…friendly toward strangers. But once you get to know her she's alright."

"Why, exactly, does that family know about David? What's the connection?" Henry felt the need to look into the family further, too. He knew all too well the dangers involved with sharing a secret so important.

"I'm not entirely sure how they met, but Chris and David have been friends for a long time. I guess since Chris knew, his family were automatically in. Why? Did you sense something there?"

"I…I was distracted. All I could sense was him…" Henry almost growled, but held himself in check. "I need to go for a walk…" He left, hoping a brisk walk in the fresh air would help him shake off his anger.

"What about your family? Do they know anything?"

Maeve's expression became dark. Vicki had touched on a sore point, she knew. But then, sore points were a possible goldmine for clues.

"My family don't speak to me anymore. Well, with the exception of one of my sisters, they don't. My parents were outraged when I told them I was getting married so young, and when I refused to call it off they disowned me. My younger siblings all sided with them. Áine, the eldest, seemed to understand. She's only four years older than me, but sometimes I think she's like a sage. She has a great outlook on life…"

Vicki took a moment to file this information away, before continuing.

"They'd hardly have done it to try to get you to leave him?"

"No. My family have no experience with anything more supernatural than ghost hunting shows on TV." She snorted, the laughter sarcastic and bitter.

"Why _**did**_ you get married so young? To someone so…old?"

Maeve smiled, remembering the beginning of their relationship.

"We met out one night, and something just…clicked. Have you ever just…almost instantly connected with someone? It was amazing. When he told me about his being a vampire I didn't really care. I mean - its part of who he is and I love him, so I accepted it."

"And you're not worried about…about your ageing?"

Maeve's smile widened; Vicki Nelson was older than her, but apparently when it came to this sort of thing she was certainly no wiser.

"That would be an awfully superficial thing to worry about, don't you think? If love depended solely on how people looked there wouldn't be poems about it, myths…people wouldn't strive so desperately for it. I believe that David will love me no matter what." She looked thoughtful for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I think that someone with as much life experience as David would know exactly the consequences of loving a human; good and bad. And if he can accept them, so can I. I always knew it wouldn't all be smooth sailing, but surely it's better to allow yourself to be happy than to make yourself miserable worrying about what might happen." She looked at Vicki, who was sitting, mouth half open, and unable to think of a single thing to say. Maeve knew her words had hit the right mark, she only hoped Vicki would take them to heart.

"Um…I should go see where Henry is…"

She pulled on her jacket and set out, torch on hand, to find him. He was sitting under a large apple tree not far from the house.

"Hey…" She sat beside him, turning the torch off for his benefit.

"Hey yourself." He was looking out from under the canopy at the half moon.

"Feeling better?"

He half-smiled at her.

"Not really…"

She sighed, wondering what he was thinking; he was such a mystery to her sometimes. Closing her eyes she leaned her head over onto his shoulder. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright, startling him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I…Were you thinking about…never mind."

"What?" He looked her up and down, wondering what was wrong.

"Nothing." Her brows drew down, and she wondered why she had asked. It was probably some sort of wild imagination/sleep thing. But it had seemed so…real… "I just…when I put my head on your shoulder I was wondering what you were thinking. I must be tired…" She smiled reassuringly at him.

"I was thinking about the ritual. About how afterwards I felt…closer to you."

"Whoa…ok, coincidence central."

"What?"

"Well, I was wondering what you were thinking, and I sort of felt this…jolt, and then flashes of the ritual, then of when you lay in bed with me before it, and I felt all…" She stopped, not really understanding what exactly she had felt.

"Felt all…" He was shocked. It was possible that this was a consequence of the ritual, and she had indeed gotten a window into his thoughts. He had to say it, had to tell her what he had felt that night when she had asked him to hold her…He had to know if she had really felt what he had, or if it was her own reaction to the images. "Felt…warm and alive?"

She couldn't look at him, not yet. There were tears gathering in her eyes; the strength of the emotion she had felt, even just for that one moment, was overwhelming her.

"Yes…I think…Was that…?" She looked up at him, needing to understand.

He looked back up at the night sky, wondering how to explain it to her.

"That night, when you were so upset and you wanted me, asked for me, I…I had wanted it for so long and when I lay next to you, just being so close to you, holding you...I felt truly alive for the first time in a very long time."

"Henry…"

He looked back at Vicki, and smiled.

"Don't. Just give me your hand." He concentrated on her and, as he took her hand, he felt it, too.

There was a flood of images; the two of them together; fighting, laughing, the moments when she had moved away and he felt her want, almost need to stay, to let him kiss her, to be with him…He let go.

"That's…intense…"

"Why now?" Vicki wondered, wanting to deflect some of his attention from what he had seen.

"I don't know - maybe because we were concentrating. Maybe it's only developing now. I wish I could tell…"

Before he could finish his sentence, her soft, warm lips were on his. She didn't know why, but the thought of him knowing that she had pulled away from him so many times even though she had wanted him made her feel a bit cowardly. That and Maeve's words had come back to her. She wasn't going to wallow in 'maybes' anymore – she was going to allow herself the thing she wanted most.

xXxXxXx

She watched him through the window. He was still upset about the other woman, but that would fade in time – she had known it wouldn't happen instantly. And once he got over whatever infatuation he had with Maeve, he would be all hers. She could wait – it shouldn't take much longer. In the meantime, she would watch and bide her time. If she rushed anything, it might not work. The other vampire and that blonde woman shouldn't cause much trouble; there was no way anyone would believe it was her. He pulled the curtains closed in his room. She smiled, before moving away from her spot behind the tree. "Soon…" She reassured herself. "Soon…"

xXxXxXx

A/N: Ok, there it was! Let me know what you think of it all…If the whole "bond" thing is too much, let me know and I'll tweak it. I don't want it to be OTT. And if anyone wants to take a guess at who it is, go for it!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! It's quite heartening to know people are reading and enjoying. I didn't invent these characters. Nor did I invent post-it notes. Or the club Cuba – I don't know the owner's name, but it's not mine anyways.

Hmmm…good guesswork, by the way...Might be her ;) Interesting that anyone who guessed all said the same person...

xXxXxXx

Henry and Vicki had decided to go it alone the next night; Coreen wasn't one for overly energetic sleuthing (preferring the book- or internet-based types) and had been more than happy to hit the books with Maeve. When Vicki and Henry arrived at Chris and Emily's house Henry opted to come in. The other vampire wasn't around, and he wanted to see if he could sense anything unusual inside. Gemma 'greeted' them at the door, and they followed her into the living room, where her parents were waiting for them.

"Hello, you must be Henry." Emily and Chris took their turns shaking his hand and they all took a seat.

"We looked into David's usual feeding spots and…" Henry stole a glance at the teenage girl before continuing, "came up blank. Vicki and I just wanted to make sure she hadn't missed anything important yesterday."

"Well I can't think of anything else that might be useful…" Chris stroked his chin, thinking.

"Gemma…I was wondering. You wouldn't know anything that maybe you forgot to mention yesterday?"

"I didn't do it." The young girl rolled her eyes and sighed very obviously.

Vicki looked at Henry, who had been listening intently to Gemma's heart rate and watching her facial expression. If she had lied to him, he would have heard her heart beat faster, or noticed her eye movements. Very few people could fool a vampire, and he was certain she wouldn't know how. She was clear. He nodded almost imperceptibly and Vicki pursed her lips. There goes the current theory.

"Do you know where David went tonight?" Vicki turned her attention to Emily.

"Yes, he said he was going to Cuba. It's on Eyre Square…I think he said you'd been there before?"

"Yeah, we were…" Vicki fought the urge to look at Henry.

xXxXxXx

"Remind me why you came?" Vicki said quietly as they made their way into the club.

"Because you need me, remember?" He grinned.

"Hm" She sounded disgruntled, but he knew better. Vicki, who had been walking ahead of Henry, suddenly stopped on the stairs. "Something doesn't feel right in there…"

"How so?" His expression was becoming sour; he was beginning to get distracted by the scent and feeling of another vampire nearby.

"I don't know…it's as if…as if there's something in there that I don't want to go to."

His eyebrows shot upward. Surely she couldn't mean…? He placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her, and, as he had hoped, he felt the familiar jolt and got a flash of what she was feeling. It was something akin to his current emotions.

"It's the other vampire," he explained, removing his hand, "you seem to be sensing him."

"I am? Whoa…" She seemed mildly impressed by this and forced herself to go on. She spotted David walking toward them, his facial expression matching Henry's; they were staring each other down, teeth bared in what was unmistakeably a show of power. Vicki could feel the tension between them as if it were a tangible thing.

"Boys! Play nice! David, we need to speak to you outside, about Maeve. Henry!" Vicki felt and saw Henry force the beast back down within him and stare at Vicki, blinking confusedly. David had a lot more trouble controlling himself, but as soon as he calmed down he followed Henry and Vicki out onto the street.

"What did you do?" Henry was still in awe of what had happened inside; it was as if Vicki had ordered the vampire down and it had listened.

"I don't know…I figured I'd try bossing you around!"

"Do either of you want to explain why you came here? It's not exactly easy for me to be so near…" He nodded in Henry's direction.

"We needed to talk to you about Chris and his family. Maeve is keen to have this thing over and done with ASAP, as, I'm sure, are you…" She emphasised the last few words, trying to distract David, who was now eyeing Henry as if he was contemplating different ways to kill him. It worked, to some extent; he turned his attention to Vicki. "Good. Now; we wanted to ask if there was anything you might have forgotten to mention last night?"

"I told you anything I thought would help. There's nothing else that would be of any use."

"Are you sure? Nothing? What about…I don't know…Maeve's friends? Do you have any other friends who might suspect? Former lovers? Anything?" Vicki's voice had become higher-pitched with each question.

"I'm sure. Nothing. The only friend of Maeve's that might have suspected has been dealt with – I made sure she didn't notice anything…unusual. I keep a very small circle of friends, so it's not one of mine. As you might imagine, the list of former lovers is even smaller than my list of friends. I can think of nothing else that would benefit your investigation."

"What about their friends? Would Gemma or Emily have told anyone?"

"It's unlikely…I have met some of their friends, but I didn't think they would betray me…"

"Alright…Well thanks, anyways." Vicki made to turn and leave, but David grabbed her arm. Henry growled threateningly at this invasion of what he saw as his. He received a glare in response before David looked back at the PI.

"Would you tell her…tell her I miss her."

"I will…" Vicki smiled reassuringly. She could understand, in a way, and was glad to be able to help him. They returned to the car and left the other vampire to his business.

xXxXxXx

"So what was that all about?" Vicki broke the ten-minute silence on the drive back to Maeve's house.

"All what?"

"The whole actually listening to me thing. I thought you couldn't control your reactions to another vampire unless it's a sire thing…" she trailed off at the end, not wanting to start a tangent conversation about Henry and the 'Princess of Darkness', Christina.

"I don't know…maybe it's for the same reason you could feel him in the club. I must say, it was…refreshing to be able to fight the instinct."

"Yeah...I wouldn't have liked to watch you two duke it out. So this is probably the whole "connection" thing, huh? It's…useful, I guess…"

"Useful is one word. I don't know how much further it will progress, if at all. I certainly never imagined it might work quite like this." Henry had been wondering how to broach the topic, and was rather relieved that Vicki had done it for him.

"Yeah, well…as long as it stays controllable…" Vicki's voice held well-masked uneasiness, and Henry knew exactly why; the prospect of losing her ability to control herself again must be quite upsetting to her.

"It's alright. We're here now." Henry was glad of the out; he didn't want to drag up bad memories for Vicki.

They went inside, and shared their most recent information. Or lack thereof.

Coreen was clearly about to explode from holding something in, but her excitement was a fraction of what it would have been weeks before; she knew all too well the consequences of tampering with magic, and felt sorry for Maeve and David for having this put upon them.

"I take it you may have found something helpful?" Henry said dryly, giving her the opportunity to let out whatever it was.

"I think I found it. Online. The curse. It's not exactly right, but with a few tiny tweaks it could be what was used. The site doesn't have much else useful on it, but here's the printout of it." She handed a few sheets to Henry to examine. His brows drew down in concentration as he studied the technicalities of what he had been given.

"This could be it, alright. Well done, Coreen."

"Ok, so we've got the offending…curse. Now all we need is the culprit." Vicki was glad to have something to work with – having no evidence whatsoever unnerved her.

"I think I can have one of my friends drum up a counter-curse, now that we have the exact one." Maeve was looking very, very pleased about this.

"You have witch-friends?" Henry looked up, studying her reaction.

"Yeah, I do, sort of. Not witches, but something similar. You met her, actually – Izzy. Don't worry – it wasn't her. Even if she knew about David she wouldn't have done this."

"How can you be so sure?"

Maeve laughed, for the first time, a real, loud laugh. When she finished, and realised that none of the present company was in on the joke, she informed them, a Cheshire-cat grin spread across her face.

"Ok, well number one, she doesn't sway that way, so she wouldn't be trying to steal him away from me. And number two, she's happily…married? Committed? I don't know the exact term. She has a life partner. So she wouldn't be trying to steal me away from him, either."

No-one was quite sure what to say, until Coreen piped up.

"So she can do a counter-curse and you'll be alright?"

"Well, maybe she can. She doesn't usually get involved with active magic. But she might be able to help. I still want to find out who did this. Whoever it was obviously has something serious going on and needs to be taught about the forces they messed with." Vicki was reminded very much of a vampire when she looked at the Irish woman's expression. She looked wild, vengeful…

"Anyways, we should come up with a game-plan…or something." Vicki rounded up the troops and they set to work on possible theories.

xXxXxXx

She watched from the other side of the square as the vampire and the blonde talked to David. She didn't go into the club – she didn't want to see him drink of anyone else. He had never taken her blood, but she had dreamed about it…dreamed about how he would turn her and they would be together forever. The 'PI' and the other one left, and David went back into the club. She smiled; she felt sure they hadn't even gotten close to figuring any of it out.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Right – there you have it! As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Once again, I am very, very grateful for your reviews. Still don't own any rights to Blood Ties. Does anyone actually think I do?

xXxXxXx

Vicki woke at sunset, and sat bolt upright in the bed. Henry needed her. She got up and walked straight into his room.

"Are you ok?"

He sat up, supporting his weight on his elbows. The covers slid down his chest to reveal his sculpted physique.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"I just…do you need anything?"

He frowned, wondering what she meant.

"Well, I do need to feed tonight…"

"Oh…ok…When I woke up I just thought you…needed me for something. I'll just…go then." She pointed toward the door and smiled awkwardly before turning to leave. He was in front of her in a heartbeat.

"Stay. I won't bite." He grinned slyly at her and led her to his bed.

"Ok, but just so you know: I'm not breakfast in bed."

"Oh…" He mock-frowned at her, and they broke into laughter.

When their fit of laughs stopped they were lying on their sides, facing each other. Their eyes met and they became silent, caught in the moment.

"We should get up." Henry's voice betrayed that he had little intention to do that.

"We should." Vicki breathed, as she ran her hand across his chest.

But they didn't.

xXxXxXx

Izzy arrived shortly before Henry and Vicki came downstairs and had already been shown the curse. As the pair entered the living room, the three women, Coreen, Maeve, and Izzy stopped mid-conversation to stare knowingly at them.

"Hey, you two…" Maeve smiled and winked at them.

"Hi. Right, down to business…" Vicki sat down on the couch and took up her 'cop' stance. She wasn't about to allow teasing about this…especially from Coreen.

Izzy took the pages Coreen had printed out and, with a wave, she left.

"So, you guys find anything out yesterday? Anything that might tell who did this?" Coreen was anxious to solve this one – she had really grown attached to Maeve and wanted to see the person who had done this brought to some sort of justice.

"No…I had a hunch about Chris and Emily's daughter. But she didn't lie; she definitely didn't do it."

"Wait a minute, Vicki…she didn't lie, but it's possible she omitted the truth; all she said was that she didn't do it…" Henry suddenly looked quite annoyed; she may not have known how to trick a vampire but she seemed to know how to get around that fact easily enough.

"She's involved in this?" Maeve was shocked. Sure, the girl wasn't the friendliest in the world but she never seemed the type to do something so cruel. "How could she?"

"Don't, don't get upset…Sometimes people do this sort of thing and…and they don't really know what's going to happen. Maybe this wasn't how she thought it would play out…or…or maybe she didn't really understand what it was she was doing…" Coreen tried to keep her voice from breaking as she comforted her new friend. She could certainly relate to some aspects of the situation – but at least Coreen had never intended any harm.

"But she didn't actually do it – she just knows something about it. Something that we need to find out **_now_**." Vicki grabbed her things and Henry's arm and headed for the door. "Let us know if Izzy comes up with anything, ok?"

xXxXxXx

Vicki knocked impatiently on the door of the house; she was going to get answers _**immediately**_, if not sooner. Emily answered the door and looked shocked and confused as Vicki breezed by her without so much as a 'hi'. She found Gemma in the kitchen and grabbed the girl by the shoulders.

"What do you know?" She practically growled at the girl.

"I don't…what? Mum!" Emily rushed into the kitchen. Vicki paid no attention to her.

"You know something about who did this to Maeve and David. Tell me. Now."

Gemma looked like a deer caught in headlights. She knew she had to own up to what she knew, right now. She swallowed hard, stalling.

"I…well…I may have told one of my friends about…about David. She seemed to have a crush on him and I thought she'd be jealous of me if…if I told her what he was. So…so I did…"

"And?" Vicki let go of Gemma's shoulders, knowing the girl would keep going.

"And she got all…obsessive about him. She kept asking loads of questions and saying how cool it would be to be with him. She thought she was in love or something. I stopped talking to her after that started. But I think she might have done it…she went crazy about the whole thing – it was kinda scary…" Gemma began to cry out of relief, worry, and guilt. At least now, though, she had gotten it all out in the open.

"Who is she?" Emily's voice was quiet but firm.

"Katy. Katy Burns. Please, Vicki, Mum, Henry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen…I'm so sorry…"

"Henry, we need to get to that girl quickly." Vicki wanted to resolve it all as soon as she could.

"That might not be the best idea, Vic…" Henry was concerned that the girl might have other magic at her disposal, and if they went unprepared it could go very wrong. For once, Vicki agreed instantly.

"Ok…what do you suggest?"

"Firstly we need her address. Perhaps it might be a good idea to involve David in this? That way, we could set up some sort of lure for the girl. If we do it that way, we could use the element of surprise to our advantage. She won't be expecting an attack, so she won't be on the defensive."

Vicki nodded her agreement.

"Wait, wait…this is just a little girl! You can't attack her or…" Emily was certainly in favour of an intervention, but it was still someone's daughter they were talking about; they couldn't harm her.

"We're not going to hurt her, Emily. We just want to talk to her. Unfortunately, people who are mixed up in this stuff don't usually want to see sense. It sometimes takes some force to get them to listen. I don't like it either…but it has to be done." She paused, turning to Gemma. "The address, please?"

xXxXxXx

"Ok, you two. We've got some good news…sort of…Henry?" Vicki and Henry had returned to Maeve's house to regroup. Henry, taking his cue, filled them in on what they had found out.

"Ok, so we'll need to phone David and figure out a plan. Any ideas?" Maeve was certainly excited about having found the culprit but her problem was not one that could be immediately solved.

"Yes. I think if we were to have David meet her it's likely he could…convince her to back off." Vicki replied, her voice holding a tinge of weariness.

"She's quite young, so even if she was expecting it his powers of persuasion are unlikely to fail." Maeve said, as she walked out of the room. "I'll just get the phone…"

They discussed the situation with David and all agreed on a plan. All going well, they would be able to convince the girl to leave both David and Maeve alone and, with any luck, Izzy would be able to remove the curse.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Ok, there's the ol' scene set! I hope I didn't pile too much into one chapter, but I just sort of had a burst of writing fever…Please do let me know what you thought!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Once again, I'm so grateful for your reviews! I don't own Blood Ties. In fact, being a girl I don't own any ties; they don't really suit me.

xXxXxXx

The meeting had been arranged; Katy was expected to show at the docks at any minute.

Henry, Vicki and Coreen hid in the shadows, well placed should David need help. The two vampires heard her coming and Henry put Coreen and Vicki on alert.

"Dave!" Katy greeted him warmly, as if they were good friends.

"Katy." His tone was unreadable; Vicki guessed that he had tried for cheery, but couldn't quite make it come out.

She stood about a metre away from him, obviously unsure how to behave.

"So…what did you want to talk about?"

"You, actually…I wanted to talk about you. And me."

Her face lit up at what she saw as the beginning of a long-awaited discussion.

"About…about us?" She tried at being coy.

"Yes…I understand you heard something strange about me…about what I am. What did you hear?" He was restraining himself awfully well; the three that were watching all knew how angry he was.

"I heard something?" Suddenly she was lost in his bright blue eyes…something pulled her into them and she felt like she could, like she would, tell him just about anything.

"Yes…you heard something about me. Tell me what you heard."

"I heard that you're a…vampire!" She giggled, surprised at herself but somehow elated that she had told him what he wanted to know.

"I see…and do you believe that?" Patience was something you learned all about if you live long enough. He could wait; he needed to know everything she thought she knew about him.

She hesitated, until he caught her gaze again. Caught once more in what Vicki, Coreen and Henry knew was his power, she continued.

"Yes…or at least…I hoped…" She trailed off, completely within his control now. He allowed his eyes to darken and, had she been fully aware of herself she would have seen the vampire emerge. As it was, she just stared blankly at him. He walked over to her, slowly, purposefully; the predator in him allowed some freedom. He bent slightly, bringing their faces close together. Only Henry could hear the low growl from the other vampire's throat and he had to work hard not to answer it with one of his own.

Whatever the vampire said to the girl was said so quietly that Henry would have had to strain to hear it, which he didn't; it wasn't his place. When David finally stood straight, the look on Katy's face was one of sheer terror.

Vicki cocked her head to the side, noticing a change in the air…surely it couldn't be…? She would ask Henry about it later.

Katy ran like one afraid for her life. David looked at the ground for a moment, sighed, then gestured for the three others to join him.

"That was awesome!" Coreen was amazed by what he had just done.

"She will remember nothing of any of this. She couldn't remove the curse; she had no power to do so. She is no longer a threat. Thank you, for your help."

Henry nodded, Vicki and Coreen smiled. With that, David disappeared into the night, and Henry ushered Coreen and Vicki back to the car.

xXxXxXx

"So…that was a little anti-climactic, don't you think?" Coreen piped up from the back seat.

"Yeah…I was kind of expecting…I don't know…something more than just a messed-up teenager. I mean, there's usually some sort of supernatural show-down or something before it's all over, and, well, she just…showed up. And then he vamped her." Vicki sounded somewhat disappointed.

"We should be thankful that there was nothing more to it. Now all that remains to be resolved is the removal of the curse." Henry pointed out as he drove.

They arrived at the country house a while later and clambered out of the car, eager to fill Maeve in on what had happened.

xXxXxXx

"So basically, it went down even better than planned, and she's now totally harmless!" Coreen finished, smiling reassuringly at Maeve.

"Wow…I hope Izzy doesn't take too long at it. I know I should just be glad to have this all sorting itself out but I can't help but want it all to get wrapped up, you know?" they all understood what she meant; sure, the girl had been found out, but she still didn't have her husband back. As it came up on three A.M. they decided to call it a night and all headed to bed.

xXxXxXx

Vicki lay in bed, thinking about what had happened earlier that night. She couldn't sleep; she had a question for Henry that couldn't wait. So, she went to his room, careful to knock this time, and they sat together on the bed.

"I was wondering…what's it like to…to feel fear?" Vicki asked, not looking at him.

"I'd imagine at this point in your life, considering the professions you've chosen, that you would know that." Henry didn't quite know what she meant.

"No…no…not your own fear. I mean…when you sense someone else's…"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I think I might have. Felt someone else's fear. When David finished with Katy…I sort of…I don't know, felt a wave of something come from her and I just knew she was terrified. I mean, it could just be my imagination, but…you know…with all the weird stuff going on with us I just thought I'd check…See what you thought."

"Hmm…Well vampires usually smell fear. But there is an element of sensing it otherwise, too. Maybe because your nose isn't sensitive enough to pick up the scent, you could feel it more."

"This whole thing is getting very…intense." She looked up into his eyes, showing she meant it in more ways than one.

"Yes…it is…" He caught the change in her scent; she wanted him. And it was completely intoxicating. "Do you mind intensity, Vicki?"

She couldn't seem to make any words come out, so instead she just shook her head.

"Good…I'm glad to hear that…I'm quite a fan of it, myself…" they leaned in to each other; their lips meeting, hands moving to wrap arms around each other.

They could discuss the more serious matters another time.

xXxXxXx

The next evening Vicki awoke in Henry's bed. He had, apparently, been awake for some time, since he was fully clothed and watching her.

"Good morning…" He grinned at her.

"Hey…" She felt a little awkward.

"You should get up; I think I heard Izzy downstairs a few minutes ago. There might be news."

Vicki grunted and pulled the duvet up over her head. She was still tired. Somehow, though, he talked her up and into the bathroom to get herself ready. Half an hour later she was downstairs, and she found the others in the kitchen, standing around with cups of tea or coffee. Henry, of course, had declined.

"So…I take it from the smiling that we've got something?"

"Yep! I think we figured it out." Izzy replied, sounding rather excited.

"Well great! That means we can split…" Coreen was going to miss Maeve, but she missed Toronto, too, and was looking forward to getting back.

Vicki looked warily at Henry, whose expression had clouded over.

"I don't think Henry is as excited as you, Coreen…"

"Yes, well…despite the fact that I survived the trip over doesn't mean I'm exactly looking forward about the one back…"

Coreen rolled her eyes at his choice of words but opted to remain silent.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Yay! Once again the day is saved thanks to our trio of investigators and vampire powers. I hope that wasn't too anti-climactic…One more chapter left in this one, I think. Let me know what you thought!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Here it is: the last chapter!

xXxXxXx

Maeve and Izzy drove Henry, Vicki, Coreen and the coffin to Dublin airport the next evening. Coming towards dawn they pulled over for Henry, who climbed back into said coffin looking part-terrified, part-resigned to his fate. He blessed himself, and as Vicki pecked him discreetly on the lips, each felt warmth radiating from the other and felt strengthened because of it.

"See you at home…"

He smiled ruefully at her.

"Goodnight, Vicki."

She closed the lid, sealed it, and they finished the trip to the airport.

They sent Henry through security before returning to the departures hall and checking through their baggage. Afterwards, the two Irish women said their goodbyes and promised to let Vicki know how the curse removal went.

"Hey, who knows – since the boys can control themselves around each other, maybe we'll come for a holiday!" Maeve chuckled as the idea of a vampire package holiday found its way into her mind. "Anyways, thank you both so much for figuring all this out for us…You have no idea what it means." She hugged Coreen one last time then dragged Vicki off a few feet. "I'm glad to see you and Henry getting along so well…" She smirked at the PI, who groaned.

"Yeah, well…We have a special relationship…" Vicki's voice dripped sarcasm. Oh yeah, she only had a little piece of his free will, and he drank her blood. A lot. And sometimes they got visions when they touched each other. And they were magically connected somehow. No big deal, right?

Maeve snorted.

"You sure do. Look, Vicki…don't be afraid to let him get close. You two…I don't know…there's something there. Something…real." She smiled, and touched Vicki's arm. "See you…I'll be in touch."

"Bye, Maeve…" Vicki fished her ticket and passport out of her bag as she walked back over to Coreen.

"So…back to the grindstone tomorrow, huh?"

"Yep! It'll all be back to normal."

Coreen's jaw dropped.

"I can't believe you just said that!" She looked truly panicked.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Oh gee, I don't know! You might as well have said 'let's split up, gang'…Saying things like that always makes stuff go wrong!"

"Oh yeah…sure! I'll believe that when I see it."

xXxXxXx

A/N: And there it is, all tied up in a neat little package! I hope you liked it. There may be another one to follow, if there's any interest in that... What do you guys think?


End file.
